Comment, Pt. I

Recently, we saw a segment of PBS's MacNeil/Lehrer report that all too painfully caught our attention. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, MD & Dr. Mathilde Krim, a research scientist at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, here in NYC, joined in debate over the use of controlled clinical trials in the testing of several drugs that are being looked at as possible treatments for acquired-immune-deficiency syndrome-AIDS. One of the drugs, azidothymidine, commonly referred to as AZT, was recently described in the British medical journal "The Lancet" as showing some promise; & in an experiment now being conducted as Dr. Fauci's institute & a dozen other hospitals, including St. Luke's-Roosevelt, patients with fully-developed cases of AIDS are given either AZT or a placebo...at the end of 6 months the doctors reveal to themselves & the patients the identity of those who have taken AZT & the placebo. Dr. Krim argued that AZT should be administered to all the patients & that there were other scientifically sound ways of measuring the drug's efficacy. Dr. Fauci felt that the double-blind method was the only one that might furnish conclusive results... tells about the courtly fashion in which the debate was conducted...these 2 physicians gave a powerful demonstration of what hope means. To them & to all those like them who in our behalf wrestle the demons of the modern age Godspeed.

Growing up in an apocalyptic cult wasn’t nearly as hard as leaving it.

As the years passed, Tom grew more entrenched in his homelessness. He was absorbed in lofty fantasies and private missions, aware of the basest necessities and the most transcendent abstractions, and almost nothing in between.